Brochure: Food labels - NSW Food Authority

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Name and description of food
All food labels must give a name for the food which is either prescribed by the Food
Standards Code, eg infant formula, or is a name/description that describes the true
nature of the food, eg cheese spread. Under Fair Trading and Food laws, these
names must be accurate and not misinform or deceive the consumer.
A food with a picture of a banana on the label must contain bananas.
If it contained banana flavouring rather than real bananas, it must
be labelled as ‘banana-flavoured’.
Ingredients list
Ingredients are always listed from greatest to smallest by how much they weigh
(including any added water) at the time they are added to the product.
Where there are small amounts of multi-component ingredients (under 5%) labels
may list the composite ingredient only, eg tomato sauce, rather than listing the
ingredients contained in the sauce itself.
However, any additive within a composite ingredient, performing a function in the
final food, eg a preservative, must be listed.
INgReDIeNtS
Whole milk, concentrated skim milk, sugar, strawberries (9%), gelatine,
culture, thickener (1442).
Characterising ingredients
Sometimes within ingredients lists, you’ll see a percentage in brackets next to a
particular ingredient, eg apples (26%). This is known as characterising ingredient
labelling and lists the proportion of the ingredient/component included in your
chosen product, ie what percentage of your apple pie is apple. Remember,
apple-flavoured means just that! If it’s labelled as ‘flavoured’ you may not find
actual apples in the ingredients list at all.
The declaration of the characterising ingredient is required when that ingredient has
been highlighted, in words or pictorially, on the labels or advertisement.